NCAA Football: lawyers in the case against EA never intended for the games to stop being made

Lawyers in the class-action lawsuit over EA using college players likeness in its NCAA Football games have said they never intended for the company to stop making the games.

Speaking with Polygon, co-lead counsel Leonard Aragon said the players and the legal team would be “fine” with the company continuing to publish the games.

“If the NCAA would allow student-athletes to receive some compensation for appearing in video games, that’s something that we would be amenable to and would certainly listen to as part of a settlement but we haven’t heard anything yet,” he said. “That’s not us. We didn’t tell them to do that. “We would be fine if they published a game.”

The debate over whether college athletes should be paid has become a hot topic again of late, with many sides claiming it turns them into “stars” while others claim it’s not allowed because it would cut into the profits made by the NCAA and the colleges more popular players attend.

Others feel is money is eventually paid out, it should go into a trust that the players could only access upon completing their college career, because not all players “go pro” and are dependent on sports scholarships to be able to attend the schools in the first place.

The lawyers in the case against EA, NCAA and the CLC believe the players should be paid for their likenesses – in part – because a video game will linger much longer than a college career.